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AD-R182 362 PROJECTILE FOLLOWER SYSTEMU) ARMY BALLISTIC RESEARCH illLAB ABERDEEN PROYXHO GROUND RD T R BECHTOL DEC 86BRL-TR-2771
UNASE DLASSIFI1919I NL
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MICROUPV RESOLUTION TEST CKART
vw -a- -
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II
AD
OTIC FILE Corl
TECHNICAL REPORT BRL.-TR-2771 8
NPROJECTILE FOLLOWER SYSTEM
co
T. ROBERT BECHTOL
DECEMBER 1986
APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE DISTRIBUTION UNLIMWTED
US kRMY BALLISTIC RESEARCH LABORATORYABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MARYLAND
UL 1 4 187
87""-
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Destroy this report when it is no longer needed.Do not return it to the originator.
Additional copies of this report may be.obtainedfrom the National Technical Information Service,U. S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, Virginia22161.
~The findings in this report are not to be construed as an official
i Department of the Army position, unless so designated by other"
st hori zed document s.
i., The use of trade names or manufacturers' names in this report.does not constitute indorsement of any commercial product.
9
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Upon? OUMITATMO PAWGE IIM
Projectile Pollowmr System
TO*ATNj 16 WAGT GM WWT UUWO)
T. Robert Bechtel
US A=W D1allistic Resarch LaboratoryATTN: SLcIR-W-WAboieim Proving Ground, MD 21OO5-5O" ______________
II U S0LOGM OPPIO u&A AND ASSSMI S. fAPO OATZUS Am ballistic Research Laboratory ______________
ATTN: SLCIR-D- IF. OM-M 6euaPpaMAberdeen PrvnGround, ND 21005-5O _____________
It =eyuau ainUaW 616 VL souln CLYQAMS 1W Of s.
UMCLASSIPIRD
Appoved for public release; distribuation is uanlimited.
fl- 08MeVgseyse STATMMOT fade amo d6A m.s In 10046 Sk H 's
PhotographyHigh-speed Photography
juallistic Instumentationlawg Instrumentation
An analysis is nowde of the photographic problems related to obtainingboth high resolution and high framing rate motion pictures of high velocitytask Sun projectiles In flight. Current and postulated solutions are examined
in igh ofcurre t and projected amanition performance. Basic performancerequirements for a projectile follower system are presented.
oD Fz un OM"or MWes s Oft~fT*The following pae is blank.
'A-u 1 ~-pUNCLASSIFIEDseCIMrV CLASPCATION OF TWO, P&AW Vb t'ums ao .
rAAO A*L W #
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Mr. C. David Brown, Instrumentation Development Division, CSTA, was aignedthe principal engineering responsibilities for getting a Projectile Follower Systemdesigned, built, and fielded. His engineering analyses and the contractual effort he hasmanaged are noteworthy contributions to the program.
Mr. John D. Dickens, while on assignment from the Australian Army EngineeringDevelopment Establishment to the Instrumentation Development Division, CSTA (5/85to 11/S) and then to Interior Ballistic Division (1/86 to 7/86), as a Special ProjectsOfficer, contributed heavily to initial considerations for a projectile follower, with muchof his work being incorporated into the system.
Mr. Dickens and Mr. Brown will report separately on the engineering aspects of theProjectile Follower System development, which are extensive.
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3
F-
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TABLE OF CONTMMT
Pare
ACIKNOWLEDGEM MJ1 ..................................................3
1.1ST OfF I U E ............................................ ................7
INI' ODU.C1ON .........................................................9
BACKGROUND ................................................................................ 10
OPERATIONAL PARANMTERS .............................................12
DISCUSSION ............................................................14
T M IN G .............................................................. ..17
ADVANTAGES OF TH1E PROJECTILE FOLLOWER SYST EM ......................... 17
BLURREDUCTION........................................................................ 17FIELD OF VIEW ........................................................................... IsLARGE 04AGE SIZE ...................................................................... 20INCREASED EXPOSURE TIME, OR HIGHER FRAMING RATES.................. 20
CONCLUSION.................................................................................. 21
REFERENCES ................................................................................ 2
DISTRIUTION LIST.......................................................................... 27
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LIST OF FIGURESPage
1. Projectile Follower ................................................9
L. Geometries for Potential Projectile Follower Installation ...................13
& Extended Field otView .1............................................i
t. Fied G om etry ................................................19
S. Calibration .......... .................................................................. 22
M. ining Comparison ........ o.....o......................o ...........23
The following page is blank*
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INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this note is to set forth the discussions and analyses leading up tothe decision to develop and install a projectile follower system (PFS) on an AberdeenProving Ground range, and to describe some of the problems related to the specificaspects of the high-speed photography involved.
The PFS consists of a servo driven mirror (Figure 1) whose angular sweep rate issynchronized with the speed of a projectile such that the image of the projectile asviewed through the mirror appears stationary to a camera. This will enable slow motionphotography of Mach Ml1 projectiles, without any appreciable blur over critical positionsof its trajectory, e.g., at muzzle exit.
204m,
1 0m 100m
SABOT/SEPARATION /
E",- / ,
PROJECTILEFOLLOWER
Figure 1. Projectile Follower
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The projectile follower system consists of the projectile follower and associateddriving electronics in addition to ancfllm7 cameras, computers, timing systems (strainpatches and sky screens for example), illuminating beam projector, calibration, andwhatever ese is necessary for an integrated system in the field.
The projectile follower is based on a well-known concept which has been imple-mented at times by others; e.g. L.E. Davidson at APG in 1962 (reference 1). Interest-ingly, his idea for using a cam to represent the changing angular velocity of a trackedmissile is conceptually the same as the presently proposed use of computer "down-loaded" trajectories for control of the scanning mirror.
BACKGROUND
Historically, events in ballistic technology occur in brief periods of time and areaccompanied by violent releases of energy. Thus the task of obtaining data with whichto decribe these events numerically has been a challenge to weapon systems engineerssince the dawn of the technology. Of the many data acquisition media available toresearchers photography has been a workhorse. Ballistics photography has contributedeffectively to both ballistics science and, as a technology in its own right, to much newand innovative photographic instrumentation. This in turn has produced spin-offs ofgreat benefit to the general public. The projectile follower is just such a highly innova-tive technique for extending the capabilities of high speed photography.
The purpose, or application, of the projectile follower is several-fold:
1) There exists an urgent need for continuous motion picture photography of newhigh velocity tank gun projectiles in order to obtain data which describe the dynamicmotions of the projectiles during the early post- launch phase of the trajectory, e.g. thefirst 200 meters:
a) High resolution photographs are required in order to observe and measureeffects which occur to the projectile during flight - yawing motion for example, but notlimited to that.
b) A later, future, application will be to study the dynamic motion of projectilesat any place along the trajectory.
2) High resolution photographs are required at the time of sabot separation in orderto observe what happens to the projectile and petals of the sabot at that time, and toobserve and to measure effects on the projectile, e.g. induced motion and possibly dam-age to the projectile and fins. For certain phenomena a framing rate of 500 pictures persecond is adequate, with coverage of a long portion of the trajectory of up to 200meters. Other phenomena which occur at sabot separation require much higher framingrates, using rotating prism cameras, with subsequent loss of resolution and picture qual-ity but still superior in definition to a "fixed" camera. From this need a requirement forsimultaneous high speed and very high speed camera coverage is inferred.
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3) There exists a certain amount of interest in obtaining high frame rate photo-graphs of a tank gun projectile as it approaches and contacts a target. This is not animmediate need but represents a readily achievable extension based only on amodification of the basic timing and, since there is a great deal more time during whichto accelerate the mirror, should be relatively easy to do. The immediate and specificneed is for coverage of the initial part of the trajectory.
The basic problem in obtaining good motion picture photography of high velocityprojectiles can be readily seen by examining the motion induced blur in the picture. Forexample, a half meter long projectile moving with a velocity of 1.5 to 2 meters per mil-lisecond moves 150 to 200 millimeters in 0.1 millisecond, which happens to be an ordi-narily brief exposure time for photography in natural light. But even for that briefexposure time the blur is
(150mm to 200mm) [distance travelleA * 100% = 1500mm [pojectile length)
which is totally unacceptable. Even a tenth of that, corresponding to an exposure timeof 10 microseconds, is not very good and falls outside the realm of ordinary photogra-phy. Adequately intense illumination for motion picture photography of high velocityobjects over long path lengths with a single camera has not been practically possible;however, well recognized techniques have existed for producing high quality single framephotographs. These have been used to good advantage.
A solution to the problem lies in a technique which allows the optic axis of thecamera to point directly at the high velocity object during the entire time of observation- or over the total length of flight path of interest. In order to do this one must takeinto account several controlling parameters and trade-offs. Basically one must harmon-ize the camera focal length, the frame size, the framing rate, the image linear-rate, theimage size, exposure time and aperture setting, with the projectile velocity, size, lengthof flight path to be covered, and the illumination level and direction of lighting.
A great deal of success in employing this technique has been realized by personnelat the Royal Armaments Research and Development Establishment (RARDE), Fort Hal-stead, England during the recent past (references 2, 3). Called a "Flight Follower"there, the instrumentation they have developed has been used for several years and hasbeen routinely producing excellent pictures. The capabilities of that system are limitedand have matured. As will be shown later, the acquisition of that design would notsatisfy the data requirement here.
Dr. Edward M. Schmidt, BRL, reported in 1972 (reference 4) having derived themathematical expression describing the function of a device conceptually the same asthe projectile follower. Resources could not be provided at that time to implement hisproposal.
In 1962 L. E. Davidson, D&PS, Aberdeen Proving Ground, designed and built acamera mount utilizing programmed mirror rotation for missile tracking (reference 1).That system was electro-mechanical and used a suitably shaped cam driving a push rodwhich in turn actuated the scanning mirror. An operator override provided for tracking
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corrections. Tracking rates of 0 to 15 degree per second were possible. The system wasadequate for photographing man-guided missiles. Further development was not pur-sued.
A new design is now being pursued which takes advantage of new computer tech-nology, new materials, and new shaft angle encoders, in order to produce a systemwhich is adequate for present needs and which has significant growth potential.
OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS
For discussion purposes and initial calculations the following conditions were esta-blished:
Projectile velocity realm 1,500 to 2,000 meters/secondProjectile size: length 0.4 meter and longerProjectile size: diameter 20 mm and largerTrajectory coverage 100 to 200 meters of flight pathProjectile deceleration Approx. 90 to 120 m/sFraming rate: Framing camera 500 frames per secondFraming rate: Prism camera up to 10,000 frames per secondImage to frame size ration 1:3 or betterGun caliber 120 mm, 105 mm, and larger
At the point of the program for which the projectile follower is required the gunwill be the 120 mm smooth bore and the ammunition will be the M866 and the M829.Subsequently heavier projectiles will bring the muzzle velocity downward, but in generalthe muzzle velocity of developmental projectiles can be expected to rise. For the pur-pose of tentative design considerations the following "Straw Man" was suggested:
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,1 Om 1 F1- 50m -*I 150m
I GUM
C=ER l-pFS jom Ct:> /
GEOMETRY NUMBER 1 GEOMETRY NUMBER 2
I , - 200m
1/3
\ // lOOm
\ /
GEOMETRY NUMBER :3
Figure 2. Geometries for Potential Projectile Follower Installation
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Gun bore 120mmProjectile:
Diameter 24mmLength 0.5 meterVelocity 1,670 m/sDeceleration Approx. 90 to 120 m/s 2
Coverage Approx. 200 metersGeometry:
Zero point Plane of the muzzleFiring line HorizontalSweep plane HorizontalSabot separation About 4 meters in front of gunSabot sep. tm. +2 millisecondsPoint of perpendicularity 104 meters from muzzleTotal covered 204 metersTiming pulse -4 ms :E 0.1 millisecondFiring pulse -14 ms ± 0.5 millisecondOffset 100 meters
Figure 2 shows several geometries for potential projectile follower installation, withgeometry #3 chosen for initial calculations and design considerations.
The timing pulse would be derived from "hoop" strain patches on the gun tubeand, as had been the case for other researchers in the U.K., has been adequate for thenecessary synchronizing. The firing pulse, although providing longer lead time, is lessreliable. BRL experience shows that by raising the firing voltage to about 75 volts thatthe uncertainty may be reduced considerably, from about ± 2 ms to about ± 0.5 ms.Further discussion follows.
DISCUSSION
In order for the projectile to be in the field of view of the camera throughout the200 meters of desired coverage it is necessary for the optic axis to sweep at an angularrate corresponding exactly to the angular rate of the projectile as viewed from the cam-era. The problem is complicated by the fact that, although the linear rate of the projec-tile is fairly constant, the angular rate is changing constantly, first increasing to thepoint of perpendicularity and then decreasing thereafter, the maximum rate being
- , 2R
where,
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V0
R R
e 8R/Cos8
Figure 3. Extended Field of View
............... ......... ijII5
L .
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-radians per second,VO = projectile velocity, andR -= distance normal to line of flight.
assuming Vo to be constant.
For any other point on the 200-meter Rlight path, the angular rate, w.. of the optic ais
Vcos - V.Rl.* Rfoe = R os
where 0 is the angle between the optic axis and a line perpendicular to the line of fire,the angular rate of the PFS mirror being just half this, or
WM=I* *cw 2 eM/2. 4
When we include the projectile deceleration we have
Wn R cos2 /2. 5
At any time, the angle 9 is
where d is the projectile position relative to cross over (see figure 1). That is
d - (V,* et - s * 1 / 2) - 100, 7
making d negative prior to crows over. Replacing d in equation 6 gives
el I(V *t -s.P 2) -1001 8
Replacing 9 in equation 5,
WO V. - t) C02 fs(Vt- d 2) - 100 /2R ee.! eaR j2
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Electronically, the PFS must follow the above curve pzecisely in order for the image ofthe projectile to remain centered in the camera field of view.
TIMING
For discussion purposes we have assumed the following
Muzzle velocity 1,670 meters per secondTrajectory coverage 200 metersFirst sighting Muzzle position plus 4 meters
The firing pulse for tank gun ammunition occurs about 13 milliseconds prior to theround emerging from the muzzle of the gun; however, there is an uncertainity in thistime of as much as several milliseconds. This uncertainity won't do for initiating thePFS. As shown previously, time synchronization must be good to 0.1 ms in order to*capture" the projectile in the field of view of the camera and keep it there over theentire period of the event (0.1 second). Experience has shown that a "hoop" strainpatch placed on the exterior of the barrel at a position just forward of the initiation ofrifling will produce a pulse which occurs about 4 milliseconds prior to emergence, and isvery repeatable. For the British at RARDE this pulse has been adequate for initiatingtheir Flight Follower. A strain patch at the muzzle could be used to signal emergence ofthe round and serve as a "zero' point. Two patches spaced about 0.5 meter apart alongthe barrel could be used as a representation of the muzzle velocity as an input to thePFS.
As a check on the PFS and for diagnostics sky screens would be placed in front ofthe gun in order to get position vs. time data, particularly for rounds which "go awry".
ADVANTAGES OF THE PROJECTILE FOLLOWER SYSTEM
BLUR REDUCTION
If the synchronization between the PF sweep rate and the actual angular rate ofthe projectile were perfect the blur in the direction of motion would be zero. If the per-feet match is not achieved then relative motion will occur thus introducing two detri-mental effects. Assume there is a 1% error in the predicted muzzle velocity, i.e.,
V = 1,670 ± 16.7 meters per second
- First, during the total flight time of interest, i.e. 0.1 second, the projectile will travel a
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distance of appr ately 167 1.67 meters, ngeeting deceleration for the moment.The magnitude of this error is mough to allow the projectile to drift out of the field ofview of the camera, for which the design objective was stated as 2 meters at a distanceof 100 mete (Figure 3).
Secondly, the blur for a 1% error in velocity with a typical exposure time of I ma (mil-lisecond) amounts to
B-4 1.67 m/s * .001 eec 10
B = .. 0167 meters 11
5 m 0.0167m X 100 = 3.6% 12.5 m
This amount of blur is unacceptable for good metrical photography. Of interest, a 1%mismatch in velocity produces about the same amount of blur as 1% of the blur for astill camera using the same exposure time; i.e.
B = 1,870 m/a * 0.001 sec 13
B = k 1.67 meters 14
percent blur - .m. 1.67m X 100%= 4.34% 15.5m
The indication from the above is that the angular velocity mismatch between projectileand projectile follower should not exceed 0.1% for good photography. Corsespondingly,for good still photography the exposure would have to be reduced by 10" , or for thisexample to 1 microsecond. For other reasons, as well, the latter is impractical.
FIELD OF VIEW
In order for a single camera to cover 200 meters of the flight path of a high velocityprojectile the camera must be off the line of fire a sufficient distance so that the projec-tile can be "seen" with conventional fast optics (Figure 4).
For this geometry the image size of a 24mm diameter by 500mm long projectile would
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200mT
I 024mm FRAME
NOT TO SCALE200 x 1000
24 x 100
:12mm
figure 4. Field Geometry
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L .72- - 0.06mm 16
D .024- -r., D - 0.003mm 17
Image size to frame size ratio - 40024
which is much too small for any practical purpose. For a fixed frame size increasing thefocal length reduces the size of the field of view. For a fixed focal length increasing thestand-off distance decreases the size of the image. In concept the Projectile Followerallows for the choice of the offset and focal length in order to optimize the image size forthe particular application.
LARGE IMAGE SIZE
The design objective for the Projectile Follower called for an image to frame sizeration of 1:3. In any camera system this produces a large image of the object which,other things being equal, results in a great deal of useful information about the object.This is a principal advantage of the PFS and, coupled with blur reduction capability, isthe chief reason for developing the projectile follower.
INCREASED EXPOSURE TIME, OR HIGHER FRAMING RATES
For any motion picture camera the exposure time for any particular frame cannotexceed about half of the reciprocal of the framing rate. For a rate of 500 frames persecond this amounts to about 1 ms; but, the exposure time can be much briefer, whichis often the case. Since the relative motion between the image and the film is very lowwhen using the PFS the longest possible exposure time may be used. Being able to uselonger exposure times allows for photography under poorer lighting conditions or itreduces the requirement for artificial illumination and large lenses (large apertures).Conversely, since the object is in the field of view of the camera for the entire period ofthe event very high framing rates may be used where high sampling rates are requiredover the entire period of the event (Figures 5 and 6).
The PFS in situ calibration would be accomplished as follows. Retro-reflectors, ortape, would be placed along the line of fire as follows:
1. at the plane of the muzzle of the gun
2. at 1 meter intervals in front of the gun for a distance of 10meters
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3. at 10 meter intervals from 0 to 200 meters
A CW laser would be set up as shown in figure 5 so that it is projected through thePFS mirror to the line of fire. As the PFS mirror scans the line of fire the laser sweepssuccessively over the retro-refiectors and the return pulse from each, which is receivedby the photo detector, is a precise indication of when the optic axis was pointed at thatspot on the line of fire. These pulses along with the timing pulses, the stored trajectorypositions, and the PFS mirror positions are recorded against a common time base andcompared. Synchronization to the retro pulses of 50 microseconds should result inexcellent projectile tracking.
CONCLUSION
The urgency of the need for better metrical photography for application to tankgun ammunition development has necessitated a re-examination of a scanning techniquewhich would allow continuous motion picture photography of tank gun projectiles overlong sections of their trajectories. The re-examination, including analytical as well asexamination of the related work of others, revealed great promise for the development ofthis technique; hence, on December 4th, 1984 the BRL requested and funded CSTA toacquire such a system and to install it on a range for the benefit of the BRL researchprograms. That work has been initiated and is to be reported separately.
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RETRO REFLECTORS
Figure s. Calibration~
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ZERO PULSE
I II I I I I I I I I
STORED TRAJECTORY -POSITION DEMAND
ZERO PULSE_ " IW~ I I I I I I I I
PFS SWEEP POSITIONS- POSITION RESPONSE
TIMING AND RETRO PULSES
SABOT SEPARATIONZERO PULSE (MUZZLE)(-4ms) TIMING PULSE
(-13ms) TIMING PULSE
POSITIONS ACHIEVED
Fipure 6. Timing Comarison
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REFERENCES
1. Davidson, L.E., 'A Camera Mount Utilizing Programmed Mirror Rotation for MissileTracking', Development and Proof Services Report No. DPS-g32, 12 Apr 63.
2. Knowles Damant E., RARDE, FORT HALSTEAD, "The Flight Follower - a Devicefor the Cinematography of Objects in Rapid Transitional Flight', 6th InternationalCongress High Speed Photography, Hague, 1962.
3. Fuller, P.W.W., 'The Flight Follower - a Device for Cinematography ef Objects inRapid Transitional Flight', RARDE Paper presented at the 32nd Meeting of the Aero-ballistic Range Association Karlsbord, Sweden, August 1981.
4. Ballistic Research Laboratory, Laboratory Notebook #50, Dr. Edward M. Schmidt,page 8-16, 19 Apr 72.
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